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December 10, 2016

Antigua & Barbuda students receive scholarships to attend WPI

The Antigua Observerreports that an unlimited number of scholarships will be available to engineering students in Antigua & Barbuda to attend the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, United States, for a four-year Bachelor degree, funded by billionaire Robert Foisie through his Foisie Scholarship Program.

[Government Chief of Staff Lionel Max Hurst explained that “He has determined that he can do something for the youth of Antigua & Barbuda, and as a consequence he is offering these scholarships at no cost at all to the students.” [. . .]

Foisie is a first-generation college graduate who, himself, received scholarships during his time as an undergraduate at WPI. He received a mechanical engineering degree from WPI and a master’s degree from Cornell University in 1958. It is the experience at the university, which, he said, has fueled his dream of establishing a scholarship fund to support qualified students with financial need.

Successful applicants will be provided with tuition, food, board, learning materials and air travel, free of charge. The applicants will, however, be required to sit an examination that will determine their admission to the programme. Once accepted, they must maintain an acceptable grade-point-average (GPA) during the four years, in order to continue receiving the scholarship. [. . .]

Robert A. Foisie is a Trustee at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Robert Foisie worked at Hamilton Standard Co. and Pratt & Whitney after receiving a master’s degree from Cornell University in 1958. He has been a highly successful entrepreneur who since 1981 has been president of Matik North America, an import distribution and service firm specializing in paper processing machinery. He is a member of WPI’s President’s Advisory Council and received the Institute’s Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement in 1991.